DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST GET 13 YRS IN CHINA

Beijing, July 11: A prominent Chinese political campaigner was sentenced to 13 years in jail on Wednesday, a court in central China said.

Qin Yongmin was found "guilty of subversion of state power," the Wuhan City Intermediate People’s Court said on its official website.

According to court records, it appears to be the heftiest sentence handed down in China for "subversion" in the past 15 years.

The 64- year- old, first jailed as a "counter- revolutionary" from 19811989, has already spent a total of 22 years behind bars.

At the time of his arrest in January 2015, Qin was head of the prodemocracy "China Human Rights Watch" group, which circulated online statements denouncing government policies, as well as organised discussion groups.

Qin had "refused to cooperate with the court" and remained completely silent during his trial in May, lawyer Lin Qilei previously said.